The 1965 Cutlass 442

In 1965 Oldsmobile dropped a big engine into its GTO look alike Cutlass and renamed it the 442. The company then made the 6.6L engine standard and defined the 442 as 400 cubic inches, 4 barrel carburetor with 2 exhausts. Sometimes the 442 definition was different due to the variety of options available. Standard transmission was a three speed manual with a four speed option. Another alternative offered was Oldsmobile's jetaway automatic transmission.

The 1965 442 was the first to use the Hurst shifter which came with the three speed stick shift. The company introduced the 3 speed stick in mid year and it was a floor shifter as opposed to the regular column shifter. 1965 saw chrome body side scoops added to the body, along with chambered, dual exhausts, and a chrome single snout air cleaner. In mid year, the company offered chrome reverse wheels for the first time. A 6000 rpm tachometer was also added to the dashboard, however it was more decoration than useful.

Original road tests with the four speed transmission placed quarter mile acceleration at 13 seconds at 102 mph. Another magazine tested the automatic and did the same distance in 15 seconds at 89mph. 0-60 took just under 8 seconds. In 1965, Olds sold 25,000 442 and of those 3468 were convertibles. Oldsmobile brought the 442 as an option for its F-85 in 1964. This was package that placed a police packaged engine into the old four door sedan body. The four door version went over like a lead balloon telling Oldsmobile it needed to appeal to a younger and hipper audience if it wanted to compete head to head with the GTO.

So the next year, 1965, the car maker mimicked the GTO body, eliminated two of four doors and added a convertible to the line up. The marketing campaign went from simply showing the car to talking about the speed and horsepower. Oldsmobile added a big engine, one that measured 425-cid V8 and was exclusive to the Cutlass 442. Horsepower had to be tweaked by anyone looking for top speed, because it was not the fastest of muscle cars. However, it did steer better and ride better than most of the other muscle cars on the market at that time. The car maker never fancied up the interior to match other muscle cars, but its horsepower was rarely matched.

William Jason publishes a muscle car enthusiasts blog where you can read his latest article about 1969 muscle cars.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=William_Jason